"WALKING A FINE LINE." THAT'S HOW PORTLAND POLICE CHIEF MICHAEL SAUSCHUCK DESCRIBES SAUSCHUCK DESCRIBES PROTECTING PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLIENTS AND PROTECTING PROTESTERS' FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS. GOOD EVENING, I'M TRACY SABOL... PORTLAND'S PUBLIC SAFETY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE MET TONIGHT TO DISCUSS A POTENTIAL "BUFFER ZONE" WHICH WOULD CREATE A 35-FOOT BARRIER AROUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD. THE COMMITTEE SAYS IT WANTS TO SEE MORE RESEARCH BEFORE MAKING A DECISION. WMTW NEWS 8'S ALY MYLES WAS AT THE MEETING. SHE JOINS US LIVE WITH THE LATEST. ALY? TRACY-- EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY FOR ABOUT A YEAR-- PLANNED PARENTHOOD SAYS-- THERE HAVE BEEN ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 25 PROTESTERS-- BLOCKING THIS SIDEWALK-- INTIMIDATING AND HARASSING THEIR CLIENTS. THE ORGANIZATION WANTS TO CREATE A 35 FOOT BUFFER ZONE THAT WOULD FORCE THESE PROTESTERS-- ACROSS THE STREET. IT'S NOT JUST THE ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS IT THOUGH. THE MAN WHO RUNS THESE TWO STORES SAYS-- HE'S HAD ENOUGH OF THESE PROTESTERS HURTING HIS BUSINESSES-- AND UPSETTING THE WOMEN WHO GO TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD... SO MUCH SO THAT YOU CAN SEE OVER HERE-- HE'S NOT EVEN RENEWING HIS LEASE-- AT HIS DELI. 50:58 you got any games with it? MIKE FINK OWNS GUITAR GRAVE AND MIKE'S ROCK AND ROLL SANDWICHES. HE SAYS PART OF THE REASON HE'S GETTING RID OF HIS SANDWICH SHOP-IS BECAUSE OF THESE PROTESTERS. 45:10 its affected people coming in here and I get so aggravated, I yell and scream at customers that I don't mean to FINK HAS ORGANIZED PROTESTS-TO PROTEST THESE PROTESTERS-BUT HE SAYS-IT'S NOT ENOUGH. 46:33 they call themselves missionaries, but the missionary position they take is obnoxious and anti-social. PLANNED PARENTHOOD SAYS- IT'S MORE THAN JUST OBNOXIOUS-IT'S HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION. 4:54 weve had a lot of patients come into the healthcare center, sometimes in tears, expressing that theyre feeling harassed and intimidated and sometimes made to feel unsafe just by having to walk through the gauntlet into the building AT THE STANDING ROOM ONLY MEETING THERE WAS NO PUBLIC COMMENT- WHEN THE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED CREATING THIS BUFFER ZONE- THAT THEY'RE CALLING A PATIENT SAFETY ZONE. 08:03 we had a lot of complaints of intimidation and harassment, we had no complaints that rose to a criminal level, we had no criminal activity in front of the facility THE COUNCIL SAYS- THE PROBLEM IS THEY CAN'T INFRINGE ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS THAT ALLOWS PROTESTERS TO STAND ON A PUBLIC SIDEWALK PEACEFULLY. BUT- THEY ALSO CAN'T DENY PEOPLE THE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE-BY INTIMIDATION. COUNCILOR ED SUSLOVIC SAYS-THE COUNCIL WANTS TO MAKE SURE IT'S PREPARED FOR THE CONSEQUENCES-IF THEY PASS THIS ZONE. 17:19 what we want to make sure is no matter what we do, we do properly, thoroughly, lay the groundwork so that if we pass a buffer zone and then I would predict áwhená we're sued, we will not have handicapped our legal case by acting in haste with poor preparation. THE COUNCIL ASKED FOR MORE RESEARCH-- TO MAKE SURE THEY KNOW ALL LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS IS PASSED-- AS WELL AS HOW WIDE OF A NET THEY'RE CASTING. THEY WANT TO KNOW IF THIS WILL ONLY PROTECT PLANNED PARENTHOOD OR OTHER HEALTHCARE FACILITIES AS WELL. REPORTING LIVE IN PORTLAND, AM WMTW NEWS 8